QaiserMirza
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Virtues of Allaahs sacred month of Muharram
Praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and Chief of the Messengers, and upon all his family and companions.
Allaahs sacred month of Muharram is a blessed and important month. It is the first month of the Hijri calendar and is one of the four sacred months concerning which Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
Verily, the number of months with Allaah is twelve months (in a year), so it was ordained by Allaah on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them, four are sacred. That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein [soorah at-Tawbah, v:36]
It was reported that Ibn Abbaas said that this phrase (so wrong not yourselves therein) referred to all the months, then these four were singled out and made sacred, so that sin in these months is more serious and good deeds bring a greater reward.
The Virtue of observing more naafil fasts during Muharram:
Abu Hurayrah radi Allaahu Anhu said: The Messenger of Allaah sallAllaahu 3Alayhi wa sallam said: The best of fasting after Ramadaan is fasting Allaahs month of Muharram. Muslim
The phrase Allaahs month, connecting the name of the month to the name of Allaah in a genitive grammatical structure, signifies the importance of the month
This hadeeth is probably meant to encourage increasing ones fasting during Muharram, without meaning that one should fast for the entire month.
Fasting on Aashooraa:
Ibn Abbaas radi Allaahu Anhu said: The Prophet sallAllaahu Alayhi wa sallam came to Madeenah and saw the Jews fasting on the day of Aashooraa.
He said, What is this?
They said, This is a righteous day, it is the day when Allaah saved the Children of Israeel from their enemies, so Moosa fasted on this day.
He said, We have more right to Moosa than you, so he fasted on that day and commanded[the Muslims] to fast on that day. Bukhaaree
Fasting on the day of Aashooraa was obligatory, but when fasting Ramadaan was made obligatory, the obligation to fast 3Aashooraa was lifted, i.e., it was no longer obligatory to fast on this day, but it is still desirable (mustahabb).
The virtues of fasting Aashooraa:
Ibn Abbaas radi Allaahu Anhu said: I never saw the Messenger of Allaah sallAllaahu Alayhi wa sallam so keen to fast any day and give it priority over any other than this day, the day of Aashooraa, and this month, meaning Ramadaan. Bukhaaree
The Prophet sallAllaahu Alayhi wa sallam said: For fasting the day of Aashooraa, I hope that Allaah will accept it as expiation for the year that went before.Muslim
This is from the bounty of Allaah towards us: for fasting one day He gives us expiation for the sins of a whole year. And Allaah is the Owner of Great Bounty.
Not relying too much on the reward for fasting it:
Some people who are deceived rely too much on things like fasting on Aashooraa or the day of Arafaah, to the extent that some of them say, Fasting on Aashooraa will expiate for the sins of the whole year, and fasting on the day of 3Arafaah will bring extra rewards.
Ibn al-Qayyim said: This misguided person does not know that fasting in Ramadaan and praying five times a day are much more important than fasting on the day of Arafaah and Aashooraa, and that they expiate for the sins between one Ramadaan and the next, or between one Friday and the next, so long as one avoids major sins. But they cannot expiate for minor sins unless one also avoids major sins; when the two things are put together, they have the strength to expiate for minor sins.
Which day is Aashooraa?
Ibn Abbaas said: The Messenger of Allaah sallAllaahu Alayhi wa sallam commanded us to fast Aashooraa, the tenth day of Muharram.At-Tirmidhee
It is mustahabb (encouraged) to fast Taasoo3aa with Aashooraa:
Abd-Allaah ibn Abbaas radi Allaahu Anhuma said: When the Messenger of Allaah sallAllaahu Alayhi wa sallam fasted on Aashooraa and commanded the Muslims to fast as well, they said, O Messenger of Allaah, it is a day that is venerated by the Jews and Christians.The Messenger of Allaah sallAllaahu Alayhi wa sallam said, If I live to see the next year, insha Allaah, we will fast on the ninth day too. But it so happened that the Messenger of AllaahsallAllaahu Alayhi wa sallam passed away before the next year came. Muslim
Al-Shaafaee and his companions, Ahmad, Is-haaq and others said: It is mustahabb to fast on both the ninth and tenth days, because the Prophet sallAllaahu Alayhi wa sallam fasted on the tenth, and intended to fast on the ninth.
On this basis it may be said that there are varying degrees of fasting Aashooraa, the least of which is to fast only on the tenth and the best of which is to fast the ninth as well. And the more one fasts in Muharram, the better it is.
Bidahs common on Aashooraa:
Some are wearing kohl, taking a bath (ghusl), wearing henna, shaking hands with one another, cooking grains (huboob), showing happiness.
They also reported a fabricated hadeeth that is falsely attributed to the Prophet sallAllaahu Alayhi wa sallam, which says, Whoever is generous to his family on the day of Aashooraa, Allaah will be generous to him for the rest of the year. Reporting all of this from the Prophet sallAllaahu Alayhi wa sallam is tantamount to lying.
Nothing to that effect has been reported in any saheeh hadeeth from the Prophet sallAllaahu Alayhi wa sallam or from his Companions. None of the imaams of the Muslims encouraged or recommended such things, neither the four imaams, nor any others. No reliable scholars have narrated anything like this, neither from the ProphetsallAllaahu Alayhi wa sallam nor from the Sahaabah, nor from the Taabieen; neither in any saheeh report or in a da3eef (weak) report.
We ask Allaah to make us followers of the Sunnah of His Noble Prophet and may Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad and all his family and companions.
Extracted from Booklet by Shaykh Saleh Munajjid
